Sheet metal contact with slug



P 1964 H. GORDON SHEET METAL CONTACT WITH SLUG Filed Aug. 9, 1962 INVENTOR HERMAN GORDON ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,148,929 SHEET METAL CONTACT WITH SLUG Herman Gordon, Elkins Park, Pa., assignor to Elco Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 9, 1962, Ser. No. 215,842 1 Claim. (Cl. 339-176) This invention relates to a sheet metal contact with slug and has as its principal objective the provision of a two-part contact which possesses all of the attr butes of an expensive, specially cast and machined one-piece contact heretofore used.

The contact of the present invention consists of a simple stamping with a body of molded plastic positioned about a portion of the contact.

In the production of certain connector assemblies, 1t is necessary to afiix the various contacts into posltion 1n the insulating casing of the connector assembly and then to electrically join the contacts together by means of various leads in a well known manner. Such leads are usually positioned behind the insulating casing and are preferably potted in order to have an indefinite life. The potting technique entails the use of a liquid resin and 1t requires that the contacts be tightly sealed in the insulating casing in order that the liquid resin will not flow through the insulating casing adjacent the contacts to the other side thereof. The specially cast and machined contact which the present invention is designed to replace included a relatively thick central portion to perform such scaling function.

The present device includes a central portion which is specially molded of a flexible plastic and in this way a tighter more reliable seal is achieved with a considerable savings in costs. In addition, the molded member of the present invention performs a locating function in being insertable in an opening of similar cross-section in but a single position in the manner of an indexing key.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector member including the contacts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the connector member of FIG. 1 with certain portions cut away in order to reveal the internal construction of the connector member;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the connector member of FIG. 1 mated with a similar connector member;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the contacts used in the connector member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the contact of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 8-8 of FIG'. 6; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a one-piece contact which the present invention is designed to replace.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawing wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, the sheet metal contact with slug embodying the present invention is basically shown at 10 in FIG. 4. The contact 10 includes a shank 12 which is a simple stamping terminating at its forward end in a contact portion 14 and at its rearward end in a tail portion 3,148,929 Patented Sept. 15, 1964 16. A body 18 of molded plastic is secured on a portion of the shank 12. As indicated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the contact portion 14 comprises a somewhat rounded wiping section 20 defined in part by side tabs 22 and 24 formed in the stamping process.

The tail portion 16 includes an opening 26 in order to receive the lead of an outside circuit and further includes folded side sections 28 and 30 as indicated in FIG. 8. Notches 32 are formed adjacent the tail section 16 in order to secure the same in an insulating casing.

The body 16 is preferably a separate piece of molded plastic, or may be of metal, rubber, etc. 'Moreover, the body 16 can be molded into the position of FIG. 4 or slipped thereon where the body is initially molded as a separate piece. The body 18 includes a central flange 34 projecting about its outer surface and further possesses a cut-away area 36 which terminates in an end flange 38. A cross-section of the body section 18 adjacent to end flange 38 is circular; whereas a cross-section of body 18 adjacent cut-away section 36 is D-shapcd. It is thus seen that the cut-away section 36 and the end flange 38 define a shoulder 40 which has a purpose to be described hereinafter. A notch 42 is formed in the shank 12 in order to receive the pliable body 18 and to prevent the same from moving relative to the shank 12.

The contact which the present invention is designed to replace 15 illustrated in FIG. 9. Such a contact is completely integral, being cast and then machined to final condition. The present invention is of a two piece design,

and possesses all of the attributes of the contact of FIG. 9 with a considerable savings in costs.

The contact 10 may be seated in an insulating casing 50 as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The insulating casing 50 basically comprises aligned first portions 52, 54 and 56 and a pair of second aligned ledge portions 58 and 60 spaced from said first ledge portions. An insulating casing designed to mate with insulating casing 50 will include a pair of ledge portions adapted to be inserted respectively in slots 62 and 64 which lie respectively between the ledge portions 52 and 54 and between the ledge portions 54 and 56. Similarly the mating insulating casing will include in addition three spaced ledge portions defining between them two slots into which the ledge portions 58 and 60 will be seated.

The contact 10 of the present invention is mounted in the insulating casing 50 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 in such a way as to be held upon at least one longitudinal edge of any of the ledges 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60. As indicated in FIG. 1 the longitudinal edges of any of the ledges include spaced projections 66 defining therebetween slots in which a contact portion 20 is located. As shown in FIG. 3 the side tabs 22 and 24 adjacent the wiping arm 20 are in contact with the particular ledge with which they are associated.

As further illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 the shank 12 of a contact projects through rectangular opening 68 in the rear of the casing 50 such that the tail 16 thereof projects outwardly of the rear wall 70 of the casing 50 as illustrated in FIG. 3. In such a position, the body 18, which is partially of a D-shaped cross-section by virtue of cut-away section 36, may be inserted through the D-shaped openings 72 in intermediate wall 74 of the insulating casing 50 until end flange 38 abuts thereagainst.

As shown in FIG. 3 the intermediate wall 74 has an outer skirt 76 which is disposed about the circumference of the insulating casing 50. A space 78 defining an enclosure exists between the rear wall 70 and the intermediate wall 74 and in this enclosure are positioned the various leads 80 between adjacent contacts. A port 82 is provided into which a potting compound may enter and fill the space 78 after the various connections have been made.

It is to be particularly pointed out that the body members 18 function at this point to seal and otherwise prevent the potting compound which is under a pressure of 30 p.s.i.g. from escaping through the D -shaped Openings 72 to the front of the connector. It is to be further noted that when the body members 18 are properly located in intermediate wall 74, the shoulder 40 of the end flange 38 of a body member abuts inwardly against the intermediate wall as illustrated in FIG. 3 to exert a sealing action. In addition the D-shaped cross-section of a portion of the length of the body member also has an alignment function in connection with D-shaped openings 72.

By virtue of the present invention, a two-piece contact of a construction involving a stamped contact portion and a molded body section is provided which economically replaces a single piece cast and machined contact of relatively high cost.

Where desired, concentric bands projecting upwardly from the body 18 thereby providing a receptive area therebetween may be employed to make the necessary fluid seal with the insulating casing in place of the shoulder arrangement 38.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically disclosed.

What is claimed as the invention is:

A connector member including a plurality of sheet metal contacts with slugs comprising in combination an insulating casing with said contacts fixedly held therein, said insulating casing comprising a wall having a plurality of D-shaped openings therein, said wall defining in part an enclosure with said contacts passing through said enclosure, each of said contacts including in combination a contact portion and a body portion telescoped over a section thereof, said contact portion icluding a notch therein, said body portion being in communication with said notch, said body portion having in part a D-shaped cross-section and including a shoulder formed therein for abutment against said wall of the insulating casing, said body portion being comprised of a resilient material, various leads associated with the tail portion of certain of said contacts and being positioned in said enclosure whereby said body portion of each of said contacts may be inserted in one of said D-shaped openings in said insulating casing wall to be in part located in said enclosure and also to provide a liquid seal to prevent the escape of a liquid, hardenable potting compound from said enclosure, said compound fiowing'about said leads and said body portion also being a locating key.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

